


His Ninjas

by aviciousunicycle



Category: NCIS
Genre: Birthday, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Japan, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24832249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aviciousunicycle/pseuds/aviciousunicycle
Summary: Tony has to take a work trip to Tokyo, but with Tali's birthday the week before, they decide to go early and have their first vacation together as a family.This fic is fluffier than a poodle holding cotton candy on a goose down pillow. If you're looking for a plot with all the rising action and conflict and falling action, you probably want to look somewhere else. This is the sappy, sweet stuff that will rot out all of your teeth.Written for the Tali's Birthday Challenge on Tumblr.
Relationships: Ziva David/Anthony DiNozzo
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	1. Departures and Arrivals

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to note that I have either not been to these places at all or went once about two and a half years before writing this, so I cannot 100% vouch for the accuracy of the descriptions. However, I did do extensive research on all of this (like, I spent an entire day and a half researching the stuff for the fic, I literally know what they ate on the flight over and all the movies they watched XD), so if you're interested in learning about any of the places I mention, send me a message and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.
> 
> I'm also from back in the day when all the fanfic authors put disclaimers on their work. Not something I see as often anymore, but I still should probably say that I own basically none of this and get no monetary profit from this work. My only payment is your appreciation, so appreciate it, dammit.

“I still do not understand why we need to take a taxi,” Ziva said, handing a suitcase to Tony as he loaded it into the back of the van.  
He grit his teeth a bit and anyone passing could immediately tell that this was certainly not the first time that this discussion had taken place, “I already told you, Sweetcheeks. I fight my way through the Metro five days a week, there’s no way that I’m doing it with three suitcases and a five year old in the middle of rush hour.”   
“Rush hour is exactly why we should not be taking a cab!” Ziva said with exasperation clear in her voice.   
“Daddy! Are you sure I can’t bring Kalev and Pikachu?!” Tali’s voice called out from the doorway of their townhouse, interrupting the bickering couple.   
Tony stood up and cracked his back, “I am very sure, T-Bird.”   
The little girl looked sadly at the two plush toys in her arms. Tony walked over and knelt in front of her, “Listen, kiddo, one of these brave guys has got to stay here and take care of the house while we’re away. You know, make sure that Marc doesn’t over-feed the fish, keep the pigeons out of the flowers on the windows, things like that. I know that you really want to bring them both, but we’ve got to leave room in your bag for souvenirs, remember?”   
Tali looked, uncomfortably, from her father to the two toys she was carrying. “Which one should I bring?” she said, quietly, “I don’t want to make them sad.”   
“Well,” Tony said, holding out his hands to take the toys, “let me talk with them.”   
Very seriously, Tali handed them to Tony.   
“Okay, guys,” he spoke to them, “which one of you is responsible enough to take care of the whole house while we’re on vacation?”   
Using the toys like puppets, he had them look at each other. “Woof woof!” he spoke through Kalev and responded, through Pikachu, with “Pika pika!” He turned the toys back to face him, “Sounds like they made a decision.”   
Tali looked at him with bated breath.   
“Kalev has said that he’s gone on trips with Tali before, so he would be happy to watch the house. Pikachu has friends in Tokyo, so he would really like to go on vacation with Tali so that maybe he could see some of his old friends,” Tony responded, as though he was reporting actual facts.   
Tali looked from her father to each of the toys, in turn, then nodded. “That sounds good,” she said.   
Tony smiled, “Alright, why don’t you put Pikachu in your backpack and I’ll take Kalev back inside and let him know the rules while I lock up the house. Got everything you need?”   
Tali smiled, taking the plush Pikachu from his hands, “Yep!”   
“Good girl. Ima’s waiting for you at the taxi, okay?” he tousled her hair as he stood and carried Kalev back to the house. 

“I see you picked out your toy,” Ziva said as Tali walked toward her, pushing Pikachu into her little blue backpack.   
“Yeah, Daddy said that Kalev needs to stay behind and protect our flowers from the pigeons.”   
Ziva chuckled, “Did he? Well, I am glad that you were able to get that settled. Kalev certainly is the best puppy for the job.”   
“Besides, Daddy said that Pikachu wanted to see his friends in Tokyo,” Tali said, letting her mother help her into a seat in the taxi.   
“Ah, yes, that is right. He’s from Japan, isn’t he?” Ziva said, smiling, as she buckled Tali into the seat and moved to take the seat beside her.   
Tony returned and took his seat. Looking at Tali and Ziva, he smiled and asked, “You guys ready for an adventure?”

* * *

Tony checked his watch and smiled. “See, look at that,” he began, “made it in time to get through security, grab a bite to eat, check in, and we won’t have to rush the kiddo to finish her food before we get on the plane.”  
Ziva playfully rolled her eyes, turning from watching Tali happily munching on her sandwich to look at her partner. “Looking for me to stroke your ego, mon cher?” she snarked.   
He looked at her with puppy-dog eyes and a little pout, saying, “It would be nice.”   
She gave a bark of laughter before leaning across and pressing a small kiss to his cheek before giving it a teasing pinch.   
He yelped, drawing disapproving glares from many of his fellow travelers, but a wicked smile from his partner. 

After Tali finished her dinner, Tony checked the time once more. Looking up from his watch, he announced, “Last chance for a potty break before we get on the plane. If you have to go, speak now or forever hold your pee.”  
Tali looked up at him strangely, “Is there not a bathroom on the plane?”   
He chuckled, “Yeah, but it’s not as easy to get to and you can’t use it until the pilot does the ‘ding’ thing and we can take off our seatbelts.”   
The little girl continued to give her father a skeptical look, trying to remember her last time on an airplane.   
Ziva broke in, “Well, I am going to the restroom. Tali, why don’t you come with me and at least try to go?”   
She gave a nod of agreement and hopped out of her seat, grabbing her mother’s hand and following her through the airport. 

By the time that the entire family had returned from their pit stop, there was a general rustle in the air of the gate which indicated that boarding would begin soon.  
“Ah!” Tony gasped, “I’ll be right back.” He then dashed off away from the gate.   
“Where’s Daddy going?” Tali asked, looking in the direction he had just gone.   
Ziva looked after him with a similarly puzzled expression, “I… am not sure. We should go ahead and get everything ready to go, though. Do you have your backpack?”

Tony arrived just in time to board the plane with Tali and Ziva.  
“Where did you go? You were almost late” Ziva admonished, as they walked down the jet bridge to their plane.   
He grinned and held up a bag, “You always do forget your gum and magazines.”   
Her look turned soft and she gave a shy smile. To his credit, he managed to wait until she looked away before plastering a victorious smirk on his face. Dragging moments of cute, knowing romanticism out of Ziva had turned into one of his most compelling goals ever since she returned to him. Since this was their first vacation as a family since their reunion, he refused to let the opportunity pass him by. 

They settled into their seats, Tony sighed happily as he gave a little stretch and snuggled into the cushion. “Ahh, business class on the company’s dime,” he said with a smile, “nothing better than that.”  
Ziva snorted a laugh as she helped Tali fasten her seatbelt.   
“I wanna see out the window,” the little girl whined.   
“Hush, hush, ahuva,” Ziva soothed, “When the plane gets in the air, perhaps your father would let you sit in his lap and look out for a while.”   
Tony turned to his daughter with a grimace, “It’s cloudy outside anyway, probably not going to be much to see.”   
Tali pouted a little, but accepted the answer.   
The roar of takeoff and a coloring book offered to her by the flight attendant soon had Tali completely forgetting about wanting to see out the window.   
Tony glanced over at Ziva and smiled as she colored a page, following their child’s instructions. He began scrolling through the in-flight entertainment, intent on catching up with the movies he had missed while working on his latest project.   
Tali, like her father, soon found the list of movies and fell asleep halfway through a cartoon movie that Ziva was certain she had seen before. She reached across and pulled the blanket up a bit over the child’s shoulder, then returned to her magazine. 

When Tali awoke, the flight attendants were beginning to serve breakfast.   
“Where are we, Ima?” the little girl asked, groggily.   
Ziva showed her how to use the entertainment screen to see the map showing the plane’s location.   
“How much longer?” Tali asked.   
“Almost seven hours,” Ziva replied with a little smile.   
Tali frowned, “We’ve been on this plane forever.”   
Before Ziva could respond to that, Tali continued, “I’m hungry.”   
There was a much easier answer to that than the original question. “Well, you are very lucky,” Ziva began, “because you woke up just in time for breakfast.”   
Tali’s eyes lit up and she sat up straighter in her chair, “Where is it?”   
“Patience, my love,” Ziva corrected, reaching out to her antsy daughter, “they are bringing it.”   
“Who?” Tali said, wiggling in her seat, trying to see the people her mother said were bringing breakfast.   
“The flight attendants,” Ziva responded, “Sit still, ahava.”   
Tali leaned into the aisle and hissed, “Pssst! Abba! Daddy!”  
Tony took a deep breath and shook his head, blinking awake, “Huh? Wh- What is it?”  
“They’re bringing breakfast!” Tali whispered excitedly, as though letting Tony in on a wonderful secret.   
“Alright,” Tony smiled at his daughter, “thanks for waking me up, T-Bird. Don’t want to miss a meal.” He gave a showy wink to his daughter and partner.   
“It would be very unlike you to miss a meal,” Ziva teased.   
As soon as Tali got her meal, she opened the cover of the main course and gasped, “Ima! Look! My rice looks like a chicken!”

* * *

“Alright, you take Tali to the restroom, I’ll go wait for our luggage,” Tony said as they surged out from customs with Tali grimacing and clinging to her mother’s hand.   
“Ima!” Tali cried out, tugging on Ziva’s hand.   
“We will meet you at the luggage carousel,” Ziva responded as she spotted the sign for the restrooms and hurried off in that direction.  
By the time that they returned, Tony had two suitcases and was waiting for the third to come around on the luggage carousel.   
“Daddy!” Tali cried out with a grin, “I saw a big picture of Pikachu!”   
“Hey, that’s great, kiddo,” Tony responded, glancing at Tali before looking and spotting their last bag. 

The family passed the rest of the afternoon and evening in the hotel. Tony had to talk with his team and make plans for the next week. Meanwhile, Ziva and Tali read through some Tokyo guidebooks and discussed what they wanted to do in the week of vacation before Tony had to go to work. They had dinner in the hotel’s restaurant and returned to their room.  
Tali turned on the TV and found a channel playing cartoons. Tony watched her for a little while, grinning at how enraptured she was with the program, despite it being in Japanese and the little girl only knowing the few phrases that he and Ziva had taught her in preparation for their trip.   
“She gets that from you, you know?” Ziva spoke quietly, making him jump in surprise, not realizing that she had walked over to the office area of the room.   
He grinned and sarcastically responded, “Oh, you mean her natural drive to learn languages?”   
Ziva scoffed and rolled her eyes.   
“Hey, let me see that list you guys were working on,” Tony said, turning to face her.   
She gave him a curious look.   
“You know, we don’t really know our way around here, so I thought that maybe we should make an itinerary or plan or something,” he explained.   
“Look at you being so clever,” she said smiling warmly at him and handing the list to her partner.  
Tony glanced over at Tali to make sure that she was still watching television, “So, when do we tell her about her surprise?”   
“We should probably tell her soon,” Ziva responded, “Maybe over breakfast tomorrow?”  
Tony nodded, “That’s a good idea. I’m lucky you’re so smart.”  
She swatted his arm, “You have already won me over, you do not have to continue greasing me up.”   
He took a moment to think about what she said, opening and closing his mouth a few times and squinting in thought, “Do… do you mean _buttering_ you up?”   
She shrugged, looking at him, “Do I?”  
“I hope so,” he laughed, taking the list from her and looking it over. 


	2. New Heights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second day of vacation brings surprises to Tali... and Ziva.

As always, Ziva woke up before the other two and went out for a walk around the area.    
By the time she returned, Tony and Tali were awake and getting ready for their first day of sightseeing.    
“Are you just immune to jetlag or something?” Tony yawned, buttoning his shirt.   
“I brought breakfast,” she said, rather than responding, and placed a box of doughnuts on the table, then handed her partner a paper cup.    
He opened the lid, closed his eyes, and inhaled the coffee scent deeply. “Have I told you how much I love you?” he practically moaned.   
“You have,” she said with a shrug, “but I can always stand to hear it again.”   
Tony pressed a kiss to her cheek and opened the box of doughnuts.    
“Hey, T-Bird,” he called to their daughter, “come get some breakfast.”   
“Ooh,” Tali cooed, climbing onto a chair to pick out a treat, “I love doughnuts.”   
“Daddy’s girl,” Ziva teased, swatting at Tony’s stomach. He rolled his eyes.    
“Should we tell her?” he asked Ziva.  
Tali’s ears perked up and she paused her perusal, “Me?”   
“I do not know, Tony. Do you think we should tell her?”   
“Is it me?” Tali said, fully turning to face her parents.   
Tony shrugged, continuing the game, “Tough question. It might be too exciting. I mean, it’s such good news.”   
“Tell me!” Tali called.   
“Hmm, you are right,” Ziva replied, pretending to ignore their child, “She may not even want to know.”   
“I wanna know, I wanna know,” Tali begged.   
Tony pretended to think about it while Tali reached out her little hand and grabbed his arm. “Daaaaaaddyyyyy,” she pleaded.    
“Oh!” he said, pretending to have just noticed the little girl, “Tali. Didn’t see you come in. Ima and I were just discussing if you would like to know about your super-special, extra-fantastic birthday present that we got for you.”  
Tali’s eyes grew wide and she nodded frantically.   
“Well, you know how your birthday is in a couple of days?” he began.   
“Yep. I’m gonna be six!” she said proudly.  
He nodded, “That’s right. And your Ima and I decided that we would take you on an extra special trip just for your birthday.”   
Tali narrowed her eyes, “But you said we were in Japan for your work.”   
Ziva nodded, “We are, but we are going somewhere special while we are here.”   
“Is it the Pokemon Cafe?” Tali gasped.   
Tony opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of the right words, “We  _ are  _ going to the Pokemon Cafe, but that’s not your special gift.”   
“So it’s even more special than the Pokemon Cafe?” Tali asked, thinking.  
Tony nodded, “I think so, what do you think, Ima?”   
“Oh,” Ziva said, pretending to be taken aback, “yeah, I think so.”  
Tali leaned forward, conspiratorially, “Where is it?”  
Tony made a show of looking around, as if he were making sure that no one was around to hear his answer, before he and Ziva leaned forward so that the three of them were huddled together. “Disneyland,” he responded in a stage whisper.  
“ _ What _ ?!” Tali shouted so loudly that Ziva and Tony both became concerned that they would never regain hearing in the ears closest to their daughter, “Do you mean it?!”   
Tony sat back and smiled, “Of course, kiddo.”   
“I can’t believe it,” Tali said, backing away, “I can’t believe it. I’ve gotta go tell Pikachu.”   
As their daughter ran off, Ziva chuckled. Her partner looked up at her from where he was still sitting on the floor, “I think we did a pretty good job with this present.”

* * *

Even as the morning faded, Tali continued walking on air, still in disbelief that she was going to Disneyland in a few days.    
However, this thought did not stop her from fully enjoying their other stops. Her fun at the drum museum did not do any favors to her parents’ ears that she had already damaged over breakfast.    
After leaving the gardens of the Imperial Palace, she held her father’s hand as they followed Ziva through the streets of Nihonbashi. The little girl looked up in awe at the unfamiliar sights around her while Tony looked at his partner in awe at the ease with which she could navigate an unfamiliar city.   
Tali was not really paying attention as they entered a building and took an elevator up, but as the doors slid open, her eyes landed on something and she gave a theatrical gasp.    
“ _ Daddy _ !” she said, yanking on Tony’s arm, “It's Pikachu!”

  
“I can’t believe I got to get my picture taken with Chef Pikachu!” Tali said happily as they left the shopping center, new Chef Pikachu toy tucked away in her backpack for safekeeping, “Lily is going to be  _ so  _ jealous of me when I show her. I need to buy her a souvenir! Ima, we need to go back to the Pokemon store!”   
Ziva laughed at the girl’s verbalized thoughts, “Ahava, there will be many more places to get Lily a gift. Do not worry, we will find something.”   
Tali nodded, taking her mother’s hand this time, as they made their way back to the train station.

* * *

“Where are we going next?” Tali asked as they rode the train back from Mt. Takao.   
Ziva shrugged, “I am not sure. We’re going somewhere that your father chose.”   
“Ima,” Tali said leaning into her mother’s side, “wasn’t it funny when the monkey took all of Daddy’s food?”   
Ziva laughed and Tony looked up from his map and narrowed his eyes.   
“Laugh it up, Zee-vah,” he teased, “see if I ever save you from hungry macaques.” 

“What the hell, DiNozzo?” Ziva hissed under her breath as they stood in front of a blank wall with only a small sign, a lamp, and a wooden door, “I thought we were going to have dinner ‘somewhere special.’”   
“Just wait,” he said with a wink, leading Tali up to the door and pushing it open to reveal a small room. As Ziva entered, the  maître d' clapped his hands and a small door popped open, revealing a person dressed in all maroon with only their eyes showing.   
Tali’s eyes grew wide and she looked up at Tony, “Is that a  _ real ninja _ ?”  
The ninja-cum-waiter and Tali led the way through a narrow maze until they arrived at their table, at which time, he sent Tali on a mad search for the hidden ninja call button.  Tony grinned like the Cheshire Cat through the entire experience while Ziva tried to not show him how amused she was at his scheme.   
Once their food had arrived and Tali was busy playing with her toy ninja sword, Ziva looked across the table at her partner. “Did you pick this restaurant  _ just  _ so that you could make more ninja jokes?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.    
“Now, come on, Ziva, why would I do that?” he said, smiling into his soup.   
“And you saw the prices on the menu before booking this?” she added.  
His grin turned into a full-on smirk, “I am very committed to my art.”  
She could only roll her eyes. 

After they left the ninja restaurant, snapping a picture of Tali in her ninja headband with their ninja waiter on the way out, they headed once more into the streets of Tokyo.  
They ended up in a Hello Kitty store and another Pokemon shop before they actually arrived at their intended destination. Tony was fairly certain that all the school supplies Tali would need between now and college were currently stuffed into his and Ziva’s backpacks as they rode an elevator to the 350th floor of the Tokyo Skytree. While Tali and Ziva looked out at the city, Tony purchased tickets for them to go even higher up, which required another elevator ride that Tali was all too happy to take.  
After they got off the elevator, the problem became keeping up with Tali as she dragged them along the ramp to the highest point. Just as her parents would start to get a good view, the little girl would spot something just ahead and insist that they keep going.    
“What can I say, the kid’s very goal-oriented,” Tony joked, winking at Ziva as Tali urged him to hurry up.

Once they reached the top, Tali finally stopped for a moment. She all but pressed herself against the walls to look out over the lights of the city in awe.    
Tony stood beside her, “What do you think, kiddo? As good as the Eiffel Tower back home?”   
Tali’s eyes never left the window as she responded, “It’s better.”   
“Better?” Tony questioned, looking from Tali to Ziva who couldn’t tear her eyes from their daughter, “How is it better?”   
“It’s so much taller, Daddy,” Tali said, “And the lights go on forever.”   
Tony shrugged, “Yeah, the city is pretty big, isn’t it?”   
Ziva put an arm around Tony and leaned against him, “It  _ is  _ the largest metro in the world, you know?”   
“Mhm,” Tony responded, noncommittally, “I’m just happy that I found somewhere in the world where you and I are on the same level, linguistically.”   
“Ha!” Ziva barked, “My love, you and I will never be on the same level, linguistically.”   
Tony huffed, “Oh come on, Ziva, just because you’re not that great at English doesn’t mean you have to put yourself down like that.”   
She swatted his arm and chuckled.

Eventually, they tore Tali away from the windows and made their way down to the 340th floor, where she soon found a new favorite thing-- the deck’s glass floor.    
They watched their daughter walking around on the floor, looking down on the city below her, and talked.   
“You know, I’ve thought about proposing to you on top of the Eiffel Tower,” Tony said.   
Ziva didn’t look at him, but responded, “That is such a movie thing to do.”   
“Are you telling me that you’d say ‘No’?”   
“I’m telling you that you could do better.”   
“So if I proposed to you here?”   
“Are you?”  
“Well, I didn’t bring the ring with me.”   
She turned her head to look at him, “But you  _ have  _ a ring?”  
He scratched the side of her head, avoiding looking at her, “I’ve had a ring for eight years.”   
“ _ Tony _ ,” she said in a heavy voice barely above a whisper.   
Tony turned his head and looked at her shyly.  
She turned her hand to hold his, continuing to look at her.    
“You didn’t really answer my question,” he said.   
She responded, “You didn’t answer mine either.”   
He cracked a smile, “Now that’s not fair, I did ask first.”   
“Remind me of what your question was,” she said with a small smile.    
“Will you marry me?”   
Her smile grew, actually showing her white teeth now, “Yeah.”   
“That’s not quite the big, romantic answer I thought I would get,” he teased.   
“Well,” she said, smile turning to a smirk, “that wasn’t quite the big, romantic proposal I thought I would get.”  
“We’ve never done things the way people would expect,” Tony shrugged.   
“This is true,” she said, turning back to watch Tali.   
“Besides, there’s time for big, romantic gestures when I actually give you the ring, huh?”   
“Having two separate proposals would be far from the most unusual part of our relationship.”  
He laughed dryly, “That’s the truth.”

The return to their hotel was uneventful, with the exception of stopping to pick up crepes for an evening snack.    
Tony smiled at Ziva’s subtle pressure on Tali to get her preferred flavor, knowing that she would end up eating the majority of the pastry once her daughter tired of it. Little moments like that helped Tony to know that Ziva was really settling into her position in their little family.  
Once they returned, she set to helping Tali get ready for bed while he checked their plans for the next day.    
“Everything looking alright?” she asked, sneaking up behind him as he worked.   
He jumped only a little this time, responding, “Looking good. Just needed to return a couple emails. Kiddo in bed?”   
Ziva nodded, “She was exhausted. We had a big day today.”   
He smiled warmly, “We’ve got another big day tomorrow.”   
“And you… meant what you asked me earlier?” Ziva asked, almost shyly.  
For a moment, he considered playing dumb and asking her to clarify her question, but seeing the way she was looking at her feet convinced him to do otherwise.    
He reached out for her hand, holding it in his and tugging to draw her closer. She looked up at him, “I absolutely meant it, Ziva. All I want for the rest of my life is to make you and Tali happy. I want to protect you guys and… I mean, being a dad is the greatest thing to ever happen to me, but I’ve gotta admit that being your husband would be right up there with it.”   
She smiled again, the bashful, youthful smile from before. He tugged her down and pressed a kiss to her lips. 


	3. Like Ima Ninja, Like Daughter Ninja

“Cat town, cat town, cat town,” Tali sang, swinging her and her father’s joined hands as they departed the hotel.   
They set out toward Yanaka Ginza, a shopping street that Tony and Ziva wanted to visit to see the shrine and that they had lured Tali into agreeing by telling her that, on quiet mornings, there were sometimes stray cats roaming the streets.    
Unfortunately, their first cat spotting took place as Tony was absorbed in reading his map and, not looking where he was going, trod on the tail of a black cat sunning himself on the sidewalk.   
The cat yowled and darted off and Tony jumped as though he had just stepped on a landmine.    
“Daddy!” Tali cried out, “Did you hurt the kitty?!”   
“Not on purpose!” Tony insisted, looking for the cat. He spotted him, perched on a wall and watching Tony with a look that, Tony would insist, was pure hatred. “See,” he gestured toward the cat, who was now casually licking his tail, “he’s right over there, he’s fine.”

The rest of their visit to the neighborhood went smoothly, Tony was definitely more careful with where he placed his feet, but they spent most of the time looking at the traditional crafts and foods. They didn’t pass back by the wall for at least an hour. Tony initially sighed happily, seeing that the black cat had apparently found somewhere better to be. Then he heard Tali cooing, “Kitty, kitty, kitty.”   
Tony turned to see his daughter crouched and holding out her hand to the black cat, leaned cooly against a bicycle.    
It only took a few more coos from Tali before the cat was rubbing against her legs and purring happily while the girl giggled and gently pet his silky black fur.    
“Ima, look!” Tali called.   
Ziva knelt beside her daughter and scratched the cat behind the ears, “He’s pretty, isn’t he, Tali?”   
“So cute!” Tali said with a smile, “Do you think he’s the same cat that Daddy stepped on?”   
Seeing how loving the cat was to his partner and daughter, Tony decided to kneel down and try giving the cat some attention. The cat walked toward him, sniffed, raised the hair on his back, and hissed at Tony before returning to Tali.   
“I would say that this is definitely the same cat your father stepped on,” Ziva said, fighting a laugh.   
Tony huffed and turned away, “We need to go so that we don’t miss our train.”  
Ziva rolled her eyes and stood, beckoning for Tali to follow.    
“Bye, kitty!” she called, waving at the black cat and following her mother.    
As the girl reached out to grab Ziva’s hand, she asked innocently, “Can we get a cat when we go home?”  
Tony could only grit his teeth.

* * *

After a trip to an arcade and filling their bellies with gyoza, they arrived at an aquarium. Ever the animal lover, Tali always begged to visit zoos and aquariums. Tony always tried to sway her to pick an aquarium since they tended to be indoors and, in his opinion, didn’t smell like a county fair.  
The excited little girl pinballed from one exhibit to another, calling to her parents anytime she saw something notable.    
“Daddy! Look! Stingrays!” she called out, watching with awe as a massive ray gracefully swam through the tank.   
Before Tony really had a chance to respond, she was at the next exhibit, calling, “Ima! An octopus! A real octopus!”  
The tank of reef sharks held her attention long enough for her parents to actually get to look around, but once she spotted a tunnel of jellyfish, they were back on their trek.   
“Where does she get the energy?” Tony sighed, throwing his head back as Tali oohed at a tank of piranhas before trotting off to look at some salamanders.    
“You were an athlete,” Ziva commented while Tali called for her parents to hurry because she had found the seals, “are you telling me that you were not an energetic child?”   
“Look at the seals, you guys!” Tali insisted as they stood in front of the large icy tank, “Aren’t they cool?”   
“I had plenty of energy,” Tony quipped, Tali too absorbed in the animals to realize that her parents had not responded, “but this feels more like a Ziva trait.”   
“Ha!” Ziva laughed, “Of course you would say that.”  
Tony didn’t have a chance to ask her what she meant because Tali grabbed his arm, calling, “Daddy! Daddy! Look! It’s Dory and Nemo!”  
The final area of the aquarium was almost more excitement than Tali could handle. Between the otters and penguins, jumping fish and sea lions, the little girl was practically buzzing with excitement.    
This excitement only built as they went to the mall next door to get a snack and ended up finding a Snoopy store, Disney store, and something called the “Pokemon Center MEGA TOKYO,” that Tony never thought they would drag Tali out of.   
“How about we go to a park?” Tony offered as they left the mall, desperate to go somewhere that wouldn’t have Tali insisting on buying more souvenirs.    
Ziva, who was now holding the energetic child’s hand, quickly agreed and mentioned a park that they had found in the city guide.    
Tony found the dog-eared page and the trio set out for their next destination.

The park Tali and Ziva picked out turned out to be, essentially, a massive obstacle course.    
“Perfect place for my ninja duo,” Tony joked, standing to the side while Ziva led Tali across a balance beam.    
After a seemingly endless string of rope ladders, rope bridges, climbing walls, and rope nets, they reached a bridge made of a series of log platforms. Watching several people ahead of them wobble on the platforms, linger for too long, and begin to sink into the shallow pond, Tony shook his head.   
“Nope, I’m out,” he said. “I’ll wait for you guys here.”   
“Scared of a little water, Tony?” Ziva teased.    
“I just don’t want to spend the rest of the day walking around in wet socks, Zee-vah,” he replied, “but if you think you’re so graceful, go right ahead.”   
Her eyes lit up with the challenge and she completed the obstacle with ease, Tali following a bit more clumsily behind her.    
Next came a log bridge and a zipline, which Tony observed from the ground, teasing Ziva anytime she gave an indication of frustration.  
“Our little ninja’s got some skills,” Tony quipped as they watched Tali paddle a round wooden boat through the next obstacle, “still not wanting to admit that she gets that energy from you?”   
Ziva grinned, looking at their daughter with so much pride, “She does get that from me.”  
Tony laughed a little, wrapping his arm around Ziva’s shoulder and giving her a little squeeze as Tali clambered out of her boat and ran to the next obstacle.    
Another rope ladder, another zipline, another log bridge, and a rope swing led to a bathroom break.    
Tali came charging out of the bathroom, intent on finishing the course. She made it through most of the remaining obstacles only taking help from her parents with great reluctance. As she slid off the log slide at the end of the course, she made a running jump at Tony who reacted just in time to catch her.    
“I did it! Daddy, I did it!” she shouted, “I finished the ninja path!”   
“Hey, yeah, you did,” he said, squeezing her, “Great job, T-Bird, I’m proud of you.”   
“Does this make me a real ninja now?” Tali asked excitedly.   
Tony smiled and nodded, “Yeah, you’re a real ninja, just like Ima.” He tossed a wink at Ziva who smiled and rolled her eyes.    
“Just like Ima,” Tali said proudly, raising her head from her father’s chest. 

They took the train to Odaiba and spent the late afternoon playing in arcades and browsing in a retro candy store with Tony just as eager as Tali to buy all sorts of mysterious snacks and sweets.   
Ziva, however, insisted that this would not be eaten instead of a meal, leading Tony to snark, “You’re such a mom, David.”   
Which, between any other two people might have been an insult, but the smile shared between the couple made it clear that Tony was using the lighthearted jab to continue his assurance of Ziva’s role in their solidifying family.   
The family ended up in a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, which Tony had spotted in the city guide and insisted that he had to see it in action. Like her father, the little plates crawling along the counter fascinated Tali. She wanted to grab the first one that she saw, but with a parent positioned on each side, her picks were a bit more policed.    
They were cautious with her at first, letting her take egg, shrimp, and grilled pork nigiri, as well as a cucumber roll. Anything she didn’t finish was finished by either Tony or Ziva, but there wasn’t much of that. Despite being a picky baby, Tali had grown to be an adventurous eater, another thing that each parent would insist was a trait inherited from the other. She swiped a tuna nigiri from Tony’s plate and a salmon nigiri from Ziva’s. They began offering her half of everything that they took from the conveyor belt and were happily surprised to see how much of it Tali enjoyed. She barely even flinched at the heat of the wasabi on a piece of squid nigiri. However, she almost spat a piece of eel back onto the plate. Tony laughed a little at the disgusted face that she made while he ate the other piece. Fortunately, the only other similar incident took place when she excitedly grabbed a roll from the belt before Tony or Ziva could stop her. She smelled the sushi and tried to refuse to eat it. Ziva insisted that, since she took it off of the belt, she needed to be responsible and eat at least one piece of it. Tali whined and pouted for a while, but Ziva did not relent and eventually the little girl managed to eat the natto maki. Tony volunteered to eat the remaining pieces from the plate and they wore matching grimaces until they were able to wash the taste out of their mouths.   
As they left the restaurant, Ziva praised their daughter for being such an adventurous eater with Tony adding that she even ate the “stinky bean thing.” Proud of herself, Tali puffed out her chest and walked with a purpose. 

“We’ve got some surprises for you when we get back to the hotel room,” Tony told Tali as they left the train station in Asakusa and began walking back to their hotel.   
Tali gasped, “ _ More  _ surprises?!”   
Tony held his hands up in a defensive pose, “Now, I can’t promise that they’ll be as good as a trip to Disneyland, but I think you’ll like them.”  
Ziva smiled at him, knowing what he had planned and also knowing that her morning run had taken her past a bakery today and that there was a small strawberry shortcake currently stashed away in the room’s refrigerator.   
Tali skipped the rest of the way to the hotel and waited impatiently for the elevator.   
“Your surprise won’t be there until we are, kiddo,” Tony laughed, watching the little girl shift her weight from one foot to the other, a spitting image of her mother.  
Tali huffed as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. 

Once they got up to the room, Tony went to his computer to set up the surprise while Tali opened up a coloring book she had gotten at one of the plethora of shops they had visited on this trip.  
“Okay,” he called out, gesturing for the little girl to join him, “come sit in the chair and close your eyes.”   
Tali hopped off of the bed and rushed over to the desk. She clambered into the chair and squeezed her eyes shut tight.    
“No peeking, okay?” Tony said, lightly, starting a program on the laptop.    
The little girl clapped her hands over her eyes and nodded.  
“Alright, just give me a second, okay?” he said.    
“Okay,” she agreed.   
Familiar voices called out, “Happy birthday, Tali!” and her hands flew from her face and her eyes opened wide.   
“Uncle Tim! Uncle Jimmy!” she shouted, looking at the faces of her parents’ friends on the laptop in front of her, “Hi!”  
“Hey, kiddo, how’s Tokyo?” Tim asked.   
“Your dad said that you went to a ninja restaurant, that’s so cool,” Jimmy added.   
Tony smiled in the background, happy to see his friends, but also happy to let Tali have some time with her unofficial uncles. He could tell from the background that they were huddled around the computer in Palmer’s office in the basement. It was just a bit past seven a.m. in Washington, so he wasn’t exceptionally surprised that they were both there and looking wide awake.   
Tali was regaling them with stories of their trip and all the places that they had gone and about the surprise trip to Disneyland they were taking tomorrow for her birthday. The men listened in rapt attention as she told them about the souvenirs she had bought for Victoria, Johnny, and Morgan and how she couldn’t wait to meet them in person so that she could give them their gifts.   
As McGee was promising to come visit Tali and her parents really soon, Ziva called out to tell Tali that they had one more surprise for her.   
Her head whipped around to her mother and her eyes widened, “Is that cake?!”   
“I know that today is not actually your birthday and I am sure that you will have many treats in Disneyland tomorrow, but since we are having your birthday with family tonight” Ziva said, eyes twinkling and smile brightening when she said ‘family’, “your father and I thought that we should have a birthday cake.”   
The cake was small, but still large enough that they would probably each get to have another slice or two before it was gone. It was iced with whipped cream and topped with florets of cream and slices of strawberries. Tony had poked six small candles into the icing and they were currently burning with little, dancing flames.   
“Go on and blow out your candles,” McGee encouraged.    
Tali nodded excitedly as her mother placed the cake between the little girl and the computer.   
“Don’t forget to make a wish!” Palmer added.   
Tali nodded again, closing her eyes for just a second before dramatically blowing out the candles.    
Her family clapped and cheered, then Tony wiped the computer screen and Ziva set to cutting slices of the cake for the three family members currently sharing a room.  
They talked for a while longer, long enough for Tali to finish her slice of cake, but her eyes soon began to droop.   
“Hey, kiddo,” Tony said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “why don’t you say bye to your uncles and start getting ready for bed?”   
Tali nodded sleepily and exchanged goodbyes and good nights with Palmer and McGee before sliding out of the chair and heading toward her pajamas.    
  
“So, everything good with you guys?” McGee asked, once Tali had left the area.    
Tony looked at Ziva and smiled, “Yeah, things are great.”   
Jimmy’s face somehow grew even brighter, “It's so great to see you guys together, I mean, really  _ together  _ together. You’re just… so damn cute!”   
Ziva chuckled and Tony rolled his eyes, “Slap him for me, McGee.”   
McGee rolled his eyes back at Tony and said, “I agree with him.”   
“I didn’t ask if you agreed, McCupid,” Tony snarked, hiding a smile.   
McGee chortled and gave Jimmy a light smack to the back of the head.  
Tony smiled and nodded, “You’ve all gone soft. I never got such a gentle hand when I was there.”   
“And that explains so much about you, mon cher,” Ziva teased, taking the seat vacated by Tali. She leaned over and pressed a light kiss to the corner of his mouth.  
“Eww! Cut it out!” McGee teased, “Gross!”  
“You know that we made a child together, right McGeek?” Tony said as Ziva leaned back, smirking.   
McGee grimaced, “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I have to think about how you made one.”   
Tony continued teasing, “You see, when a mommy loves a daddy very much--”  
“Hey!” McGee called out, “Everyone here has been involved in the baby-making process. We are all very much aware of how it happens.”   
“Oh wow,” Palmer interrupted, “We’re all parents.”  
There was a moment of silence as the former coworkers let that sink in, as they all took in how much their lives had changed since they met.   
“We are,” Ziva said, voice full of the emotions that they all felt.   
“That’s crazy, isn’t it?” McGee vocalized, “I mean, did you ever imagine that happening?”   
Tony shrugged, “I mean, I certainly didn’t.”  
“We’ve gotta get all the kids together sometime soon,” Palmer said.   
They all nodded or voiced their agreement. 

In the silence that followed, Tony spoke up, “Uh, so… we’re engaged.”   
“What?!” Palmer and McGee shrieked.   
“When?!” McGee asked while Palmer shouted, “Really?!” over him.  
“Yeah, last night at the Skytree tower thing, I just sort of… asked if Ziva would marry me,” Tony shrugged.  
“Well, you first asked, hypothetically, if you proposed, would I say yes,” Ziva corrected.  
“And you told me that I should ask,” Tony replied, “and I did.”  
Ziva smirked, “He didn’t have a ring.”  
Tony smirked back, “You still said yes.”  
“He’s had a ring for ages, Ziva,” McGee said, smiling from ear to ear, “Trust me, I’ve seen it. It’s perfect for you.”  
Palmer nodded in agreement.    
“So everyone knew about the ring except me?” Ziva asked, shocked.   
Tony shrugged, “Well, I had to get the approval of my council of men.”  
Ziva gestured at the screen, “Your ‘council of men.’”  
Tony chuckled, “I said what I said.”  
Before the bickering could continue, Tali called out for them from the other room.   
“Ah, duty calls,” Tony said, turning to the screen.   
A faint buzzing sounded through the speakers and McGee pulled out his phone, “Yeah, that’s Gibbs. Looks like we’ve got a case.”   
“Give the best to the old man for us,” Tony said.   
“Will do,” McGee responded with a little salute.   
“Take care of yourselves,” Ziva called.  
“We will,” Jimmy responded, “Congratulations!”  
The call ended and Tony and Ziva were left looking at their reflections in the blank computer screen. Reflections of the people they had became-- parents, partners, fiances, civilians.    
“Did you ever think we’d get here?” Tony asked, standing and offering a hand to Ziva.   
She shook her head, “I never imagined it. Never let myself imagine it.”  
He pressed a kiss to her temple, “And now?”   
She smiled, leaning against him, “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I'd love if you left a comment, no matter how short or incoherent.


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